Missionary Stories

On Sunday, February 24, the Cuban population went to the polls to approve a new constitution, drafted by the National Assembly (the legislative house of representatives, called diputados and elected by the provinces).

I arrived on December 8 of last year to El Salvador, my neighboring country to the north, with a similar history to that of my Nicaraguan people - with a war that left thousands dead or disappeared. These are hard-working and dignified people in search of daily bread. During the Season of Advent, the Emmanuel Baptist Church received me in affectionate and loving ways, and a sister generously gave me lodging in her home for the first two months. Now I live in the Youth Home, Cal Pipil in the Nahuatl language, a cultural project of the church.

How many of you were the first person in your family to go to college? Or maybe your older sibling or a parent was the first person in your family to go to college. Do you remember what that process was like? How did you prepare? Did you choose a school close to home? Did you have to work while in school?

“Beware of practicing your piety before others to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. However, when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. Matthew 6:1-6; 16-21 (NRSV)

Twenty-five years have passed since the last time I spent time here in Nicaragua. Back then, when youexited the Augusto C. Sandino International Airport, a child might ask you for money. Today, that child is a man who helped to carry my luggage for a tip. The scorching heat was the same, and the perceived calm was tense -- you could cut the air with a knife. Everybody has a history to share, but cautiously, because the “walls have ears.”

Celebrating Christmas and New Year in Nicaragua begins about a week before Advent with the sound of firecrackers and the display of fireworks all day and through the night until the day after New Years.